Expandable poultry thigh deboner

ABSTRACT

Poultry thighs (13) are placed on carrier trays (22) of a tray conveyor (14) and move on an endless loop conveyor first through a rectilinear loading run (24), then through a curved deboning run (26), and then through a lower return run (25). The curved deboning run extends about the deboning unit (35), which includes a stationary cam drum (36) and a revolving carrier assembly (38) that carries the series of deboning modules (55) about the drum (36). Each deboning module becomes aligned with a carrier tray and is actuated by the cam tracks (81) of the stationary cam drum (36) so as to engage and push the bone of the turkey thigh through the aperture (63) of a stripper disk (61).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Applicants claim priority with respect to U.S. provisional applicationSer. No. 60/010,450 filed Jan. 23, 1996.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to a method and apparatus forremoving the bones from poultry and animal parts. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to a method and apparatus for deboning poultrythighs by urging the bone longitudinally with respect to the meat andstripping the meat from the bone.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the processing and preparation of parts of poultry and animals suchas poultry thighs for sale and consumption in the retail market, such asin restaurants and grocery stores, it is highly desirable to package andserve the meat with the bones removed. Deboned meat can be easily cut-upand used in sandwiches or other food products where it is desirable tohave the bones previously removed prior to cooking and serving.

An additional advantage of removing the bones from the meat duringprocessing and before cooking is that the bones do not have to be cookedwith the meat, thereby conserving heat energy. Further, the removal ofthe bone prior to cooking allows the bone to be saved and used for bonemeal or related products.

In the past, automated processes have been developed for the removal ofmeat from the bone of a poultry part, such as from the thigh bone of apoultry thigh, by engaging the bone with a scraping tool and scrapingalong the length of the bone. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,672,000,4,327,463, 4,495,675, and 4,736,492 disclose deboning apparatus havingtwo or more notched scraping blades which engage the bone. The bladesare closed about the bone with the notches of the blades straddling thebone, and the bone is moved longitudinally through the blades. As thebone is moved through the notched blades, the blades progressivelyscrape the meat from the bone.

However, the raw meat has a tendency to cling tightly to the bone.Consequently, it is necessary for the scraper blades to engage the thighbones in tight frictional contact to ensure the meat is completelyscraped from the bone. A problem that arises with such prior artdeboners is that the blades engaging the bone sometimes inadvertentlygouge or chip and sometimes crack the bones as they scrape the bones.This creates bone fragments that can become lodged in the stripped meat,which creates a serious health risk to the ultimate consumer who expectsthat when he or she purchases a "boneless" product, it is indeedcompletely boneless.

In order to avoid the creation of bone fragments during the deboningprocess, apertured elastic meat stripper disks have been substituted forthe scraper blades. The bone is pushed longitudinally through theaperture of the disk and the resilient disk retards the movement of themeat, thereby separating the meat from the bone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,456teaches the use of such elastic disks.

Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,076 discloses an automated deboningapparatus which includes a series of elastic stripping disks, each ofwhich is mounted adjacent and moves with a conveyor tray on which apoultry thigh is received and moved about a processing path. As thethigh is moved along the processing path, the thigh bone is urgedthrough openings in the stripper disks, whereupon the meat of the thighis progressively stripped from its bone. Such a system is, however,limited in size and in the number of deboning modules includedtherewith, which limits the production capacity of the apparatus.Conventional deboning apparatus also generally are not readilyexpandable to increase the number of parts that can be processed asneeded.

Accordingly, it can be seen that it would be highly desirable to providea method and apparatus for cleanly and completely scraping the meat fromthe thigh bones of poultry parts or similar animal parts without therisk of creating bone chips or fragments of bone that can become lodgedin the meat of the parts, and with the apparatus being expandable toenable a greater quantity of poultry parts to be processed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly described, the present invention comprises an improved methodand apparatus for removing the meat from the thigh bones of poultry,such as turkeys, chickens or similar animal parts. In a preferredembodiment of the invention, the poultry thigh deboner includes anelongated continuous tray conveyor having a series of poultry thighcarrier trays mounted thereon and moved about a substantially endlessloop processing path, and a deboning unit mounted along the processingpath of the tray conveyor. Each carrier tray is approximatelyrectangularly shaped and includes a semi-cylindrical recess formedtherein which receives and carries a poultry thigh as the thigh is movedalong its processing path. Wings or side flange portions are formed oneach side of the semi-cylindrical recess of the carrier tray and reducethe likelihood of the poultry thighs falling or being dropped into themachine. The poultry thighs are loaded into the semi-cylindricalrecesses of the carrier trays as the carrier trays are moved along anupper rectilinear run of the tray conveyor into the deboning unit.

The deboning unit includes a stationary cam drum having a pair ofhelical cam tracks extending thereabout, and a revolving carrierassembly which extends about the cam drum. The carrier assembly includesa pair of rotary end plates positioned at opposite ends of the cam drum,and which are rotatably mounted on an axle that extends through the camdrum. The end plates are rotated by a motor about the axle so as torotate with respect to the cam drum. A series of travel rods arearranged in a cylindrical array about the cam drum, arranged in pairsmounted at their ends to the rotary end plates. A deboning module ismovably mounted on a set of travel rods. Each deboning module includes apusher assembly and an apertured meat stripper disk assembly which arealigned with each other and which are moved into alignment with acarrier tray of the tray conveyor and are rotated in timed relation withtheir carrier tray as the carrier tray is moved about the cam drum ofthe deboning unit.

The meat stripper disk assemblies are mounted to the end plate which ispositioned adjacent the processing path for the carrier trays. Each meatstripper disk assembly includes a flexible stripper disk supportedwithin a rigid collar that stabilizes and supports the stripper disk. Anaperture is formed through the center of each stripper disk and receivesthe thigh bones therethrough. As the thigh bones pass through theapertures of the stripper disks, the meat is progressively stripped fromthe thigh bones by the stripper disks. Guides are mounted behind eachstripper disk, aligned with the aperture of each disk. The guidesreceive and stabilize the thigh bones as the thigh bones are urgedthrough and beyond the stripper disks during a meat stripping operation.

The bone pusher assembly of each deboning module is mounted on and islaterally movable along the length of a pair of travel rods, initiallypositioned on the opposite side of each carrier tray from its alignedstripper disk. Each bone pusher assembly includes a hollow pusher sleevehaving open front and rear ends, and which is mounted on a carrier blockslidably attached to the travel rods. A cam follower is affixed to thebottom of the carrier block and engages and rolls along a first camtrack formed about the circumference of the stationary cam drum of thedeboner unit. As the cam follower engages and moves along its cam track,the pusher sleeve is moved into engagement with the adjacent knuckle ofthe bone of the poultry thigh and urges the poultry thigh toward itsaligned meat stripper disk assembly, with the thigh bone being urgedthrough the aperture of the stripper disk.

A pusher rod is telescopically mounted within each pusher sleeve,extending along the length of its pusher sleeve. Each pusher rod has atapered front end that telescopes into and out of its pusher sleeve toengage and urge the thigh bone of a poultry thigh through the stripperdisk, and a rear end that extends outwardly from the rear end of itspusher sleeve. The rear ends of the pusher rods each are attached to andsupported by a carrier block slidably mounted on the travel rods. A camfollower is attached to each carrier block of each pusher rod andengages a second cam track formed about the surface of the stationarycam drum and extending approximately parallel to the first cam track. Asthe cam follower of each pusher rod moves along the second cam track,the pusher rod is urged laterally through the pusher sleeve so that thetapered front end of each pusher rod telescopes out of the pusher sleeveto engage and urge the thigh bone of the poultry thigh completelythrough the aperture of stripper disk to complete the stripping of themeat from thigh bone. Upon completion of the removal of the meat fromthe bone, the meat and the bone drop away from the carrier trays andfrom the deboning modules for collection and further processing.

The construction of the present invention further enables the system tobe expandable, by the addition of extra carrier trays to the trayconveyor to enable an increased quantity of poultry thighs to beprocessed as needed. The elongated endless tray conveyor travels througha rectilinear loading path toward the revolving carrier assembly, and asthe carrier trays move along the loading path, the poultry thighs areplaced in the trays, with the bone of each thigh aligned with thesemi-cylindrical recess formed in its carrier tray. This arrangementpermits a relatively small deboning unit to be combined with arelatively long conveyor for processing the thighs. If desired, thelength of the conveyor, and therefore the length of the loading path,can be extended so that more than one operator can be stationed at theloading path for placing poultry thighs on the trays. However, only onedeboning unit is required, regardless of the length of the loading path.The speed of revolution of the revolving carrier assembly of thedeboning unit can be increased to accommodate more thighs being placedon the trays.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved methodand apparatus for reliably and expediently removing the meat from thebones of poultry thighs or similar animal parts.

Another object to this invention is to provide a method and apparatusfor removing the meat from the bones of poultry thighs and similaranimal parts with reduced risk of chipping the bones and creating bonefragments within the meat.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved automatedpoultry thigh deboner which uses a relatively small deboning unit toprocess thighs received from a relatively long conveyor system.

Another object to this invention is to provide an automated poultrythigh deboner for reliably removing the meat from the bones of poultrythighs and similar animal parts, with the apparatus being expandable soas to enable more carrier trays to carry more poultry thighs through theprocess.

Various other objects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading thefollowing specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the poultry thigh deboner.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the poultry thigh deboner.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the poultry thigh deboner, taken in partialcross-section.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a deboning module showing its relationship withthe cam drum and a carrier tray of the tray conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a deboning module, similar to FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a meat stripper assembly.

FIG. 7 is a top view of adjacent carrier trays.

FIG. 8 is a side view of adjacent carrier trays.

FIG. 9 is an end view of a carrier tray.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a portion of the continuous tray conveyor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings in which like numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several views, FIGS. 1-3 illustratethe poultry thigh deboner 10 which includes a supporting framework 11with an operator's platform 12 mounted thereto. The operator's platform12 is positioned adjacent and generally in front of the supportingframework, attached thereto by welding. The platform provides a placefor one or more workers (not shown) to stand while loading poultrythighs 13 (FIG. 2) onto a continuous tray conveyor 14 of the poultrythigh deboner for movement along a processing path 16 for deboning ofthe poultry thighs.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the poultry thighs 13 includes an elongatedthigh bone 17 shown in dash lines surrounded along its length by meat18. The thigh bones further include a large knuckle end 19 and a smallknuckle end 21. The poultry thighs are loaded on the tray conveyor in ahorizontal, flat-lying attitude for transport along the processing path16, with the length of the bone extending at a right angle with respectto the direction of the processing path, as shown in FIG. 2.

As FIGS. 1, 2 and 7-10 illustrate, the tray conveyor 14 is asubstantially endless loop conveyor that includes a series of carriertrays 22 connected in series by linkages or couplings 23 and extended ina substantially endless loop along the processing path 16. The trayconveyor further includes an upper rectilinear loading run 24 and alower return 25 and a curved deboning run 26. An idler sprocket 28 ismounted between the upper loading run 24 and the lower return run 25adjacent the loading end 26 of the tray conveyor, with the tray conveyorextending thereabout for guiding the tray conveyor upwardly and over andalong its upper run.

As shown in FIG. 7, each of the carrier trays 22 is an approximatelyrectangularly shaped plate formed from a plastic such as nylon, or ametal such as stainless steel, and having a front edge 29, a rear edge31 and a semi-cylindrical recess 32 formed approximately along thecenter of each tray extending between its front and rear edges. Eachsemi-cylindrical recess 32 is sized and shaped to receive and support apoultry thigh 13 therein. The semi-cylindrical recesses each function asa cradle or holding means for receiving and holding the poultry thighswith the thigh bones extending along the length of the recess. Eachcarrier tray further includes a pair of side flanges or wings 33 thatextend laterally from the side to the semi-cylindrical recesses. Thewings 33 function to prevent the poultry thighs 13 from falling or beingdropped into the machine as they are loaded into the semi-cylindricalrecesses of the carrier tray by an operator(s). Arched grooves 34 (FIG.9) are formed in the underside of each carrier tray and form protrusionstherebetween, and the grooves and protrusions engage teeth formed in theidler sprocket 28 as the carrier trays move thereabout.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a deboning unit 35 is positioned adjacent thedownstream end 27 of the loading run 24 of the tray conveyor 14. Thedeboning unit is mounted to and supported by the support framework 11,with the tray conveyor extended and revolving thereabout. The deboningunit includes a substantially cylindrical stationary cam drum 36 affixedin a stationary position to the support frame by axle 42. The cam drum36 is formed from steel or similar rigid material and a revolvingcarrier assembly 38 is rotatably mounted about the cam drum. The carrierassembly 38 includes a pair of rotatory end plates 39 and 41 mountedadjacent the opposite ends of the cam drum 36, as illustrated in FIG. 3,with the end plates being spaced from the cam drum 36. Each of the endplates is a circularly shaped disk formed from steel or similar materialand is each rotatable with respect to the cam drum 36 about the axis ofrotation 40, coincident with axle 42, in the direction of the processingpath 16.

The rotary end plates 39 and 41 are rotatably mounted on the axle 42that extends through the cam drum 36 and through the rotary end plates,and the axle 42 is connected at its ends 43 to the supporting framework11. A sprocket 46 is mounted about the axle 42 adjacent end plate 41 andis attached to the end plate 41. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, a drivemotor 47 is mounted to the framework, adjacent an end of the driveshaft. The drive motor 47 includes a drive shaft that drives a drivesprocket 49. The drive sprocket 49 engages the sprocket 46 attached toend plate 41 in a driving relationship such that as the drive motorrotates its drive shaft, the drive sprocket is rotated in engagementwith the sprocket, which in turn causes the deboning unit 35 to revolveabout the cam drum 36.

As best shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, a series of deboning modules 55 aresupported by the end plates 39 and 41 and are arranged in spaced seriesabout the circumference of the cam drum 36. Each of the deboning modulesincludes a pair of travel rods 58 mounted at their ends to end plates 39and 41, a meat stripper disk assembly 56 mounted at one end of the pairof travel rods and a bone pusher assembly 57 that moves along the travelrods. The travel rods are arranged parallel to one another and to theaxle 40 and typically are formed from steel or similar metal, and aremounted to and extend between the end plates 39 and 41, arranged inpairs.

As FIGS. 1 and 3 indicate, the tray conveyor 14 extends over and aboutthe travel rods 58 of the deboning modules 55 of the deboning unit 35,with the arched depressions 34 (FIG. 8) of the carrier trays inengagement with the travel rods 58 so as to move with the movement ofthe deboning modules about the cam drum. The travel rods thus act as adrive sprocket that engages and drives the continuous tray conveyor 14about its processing path.

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate the deboning module 55 with its meat stripper diskassembly 56 and bone pusher assembly 57 in greater detail. As FIGS. 4and 5 illustrate, the meat stripper disk assembly 56 of each deboningmodule 35 is mounted to a pair of travel rods 58 in spaced series fromone another about the circumference of the front rotatory end plate 39.As deboning unit 35 revolves about cam drum 36, each carrier tray 22 ofthe continuous tray conveyor 14 is moved onto a pair of travel rods andinto alignment with a meat stripper disk assembly 56 and is maintainedin alignment with the meat stripper disk as it is revolved about the camdrum of the deboning unit. As shown in FIG. 6, each meat stripper diskassembly 56 includes a flexible stripper disk 61 formed from rubber orsimilar resilient material mounted in a holder 62 that is attached tothe ends of a pair of travel rods 58. An aperture 63 is formed in thecenter of each stripper disk 61 and includes a substantially circularstripper edge 64. The aperture of each stripper disk becomes alignedwith the semi-cylindrical recess 32 of a carrier tray as the carriertray and aligned meat stripper disk are moved in timed relationshipabout the cam drum.

The aperture 63 of the stripper disk 62 receives the thigh bones 17 ofthe poultry thighs 13, with the stripper edge 64 of the aperture on theside of each stripper disk that faces the carrier trays 22 beingchamfered to aid in the passage of the thigh bones therethrough. Eachstripper edge 64 of each aperture 63 snugly engages the thigh bone ofeach poultry thigh and retards the passage of the thigh meat 18 throughthe aperture. As a consequence, the thigh bones pass through theapertures and the thigh meat of the poultry thigh is progressivelystripped from the thigh bones.

As shown in FIG. 6, the holders 62 of each meat stripper disk assembly56 are substantially circular metal frames circumscribed about the outeredge of each stripper disk 61. The holders function to hold the stripperdisks in place as the thigh bones are urged through the apertures of thestripper disks during a stripping operation. The holders thus ensurethat the flexible stripper disks do not collapse or are pushedrearwardly by the thigh bones during a stripping operation.

A pair of bone guides 66 are mounted to the stripper disk assembly 56,positioned behind each stripper disk 61 and straddling the apertureformed within each stripper disk. The bone guides 66 define a centralopening of a sufficient diameter to enable the knuckles 19 and 21 ofeach thigh bone 17 to pass therethrough without interfering, but yetrestrict excess movement of the thigh bones from side to side orvertically during the stripping and separation of the thigh meattherefrom, as shown in FIGS. 5-7.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each bone pusher assembly 57 is slidablymounted on a pair of travel rods 58, initially positioned in a positionretracted from its meat stripper disk assembly 56, and aligned with thesemi-cylindrical recess 32 formed in the carrier tray 22 of thecontinuous tray conveyor 14. Each bone pusher assembly 57 includes ahollow substantially cylindrical pusher sleeve 70 having an open frontend 71 and an open rear end 72 and is mounted upon a carrier block 73.The carrier block 73 is slidably mounted on the travel rods 58 to enablethe pusher sleeve 70 to be moved laterally toward and away from itsstripper disk assembly 56 in the directions of arrow 59 into engagementwith a poultry thigh 13 positioned on its carrier tray 22.

A cylindrical pusher rod 74 is received and extends through each pushersleeve 70, projecting rearwardly from the rear end 72 of each pushersleeves. Each pusher rod 70 is slidably mounted within its pusher sleeveand has a front end 76 that telescopes into and out of the front end 71of each pusher sleeve 70 to engage and urge the large knuckle end 19 ofa thigh bone 17 through the aperture 63 of its aligned stripper disk 61,and a rear end 77 extends out the open rear end of each pusher sleeve.The rear end 77 of each pusher rod 74 is mounted to a carrier block 78that is slidably mounted on the travel rods 58 for moving the pusher rodlaterally in the direction of arrow 59 toward engagement with the thighbone.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a first cam track 81 is formed about the camdrum 36 of the deboning unit 35, positioned beneath the pusher sleeve 70of the deboning modules 55. The first cam track extends helically aboutthe circumference of the cam drum and includes a pair of parallelupstanding side walls 82. A cam follower 83 is mounted to the bottom ofthe carrier block 73 of each pusher sleeve 70 and is received and rollsalong the side walls 82 of the first cam track 81 as the deboningmodules are revolved about the cam drum. As the cam followers 83 engageand roll along the first cam track, the pusher sleeves 70 are movedlaterally in the direction arrow 59 toward and away from the carriertrays, causing the pusher sleeves to engage and urge the poultry thighs13 toward their aligned meat stripper disk assemblies 56.

A second helical cam track 84 is formed about the cam drum 36 of thedeboning unit 35, extending generally parallel to the first cam track 81and having parallel upstanding side walls 86. A cam follower 87 ismounted to the bottom of each carrier block 78 for each pusher rod 74and engages and rolls along side walls of the second cam track as thedeboning modules are revolved about the cam drum. As the cam followers87 of the carrier block 78 roll along the side walls 86 of the secondcam track 84, the pusher rods 74 are moved in the direction of arrow 59,moving with their pusher sleeves 70 to engage and urge the thigh bonespoultry thighs through the stripper disks 61, and to return to aretracted position.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the first and second cam tracks 81 and 84curve and extend diagonally toward the tray conveyor 22 as they extendaround the cam drum 36 of the deboning unit 35, to cause the bone pusherassemblies 56 to move along their travel rods 58 into engagement withthe poultry thighs 13 on the carrier trays 22 during a meat strippingoperation. The cam tracks then extend along a substantially straightpath as the thigh bones 17 are pushed through the apertures 63 of thestripper disk 61 and are separated from the thigh meat to complete thestripping operation. Thereafter, the cam tracks 81 and 84 begin to curveand extend diagonally away from the tray conveyor 22 (not shown) tocause the bone pusher assemblies 55 to return to their retracted,loading positions where the bone pusher assemblies 57 are withdrawn fromover the continuous tray conveyor 14, allowing the conveyor to move awayfrom and toward engagement with the deboning unit 35.

Typically, as the thigh bones and thigh meat are separated, they aredropped out of the bottom of the poultry thigh deboner. A removalconveyor (not shown) or other collection means can be positioned belowthe poultry thigh deboner so as to catch the thigh bones and thigh meatfor collection and removal for inspection and further processing asneeded.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 10, a conveyor tensioner 90 is mounted tothe support framework 11 adjacent the loading and 23 of the trayconveyor 14. The tensioner generally includes a bracket 91 slidablymounted to the framework and attached at one end to the idler sprocket28 of the tray conveyor. A travel screw 92 is attached to the bracketfor moving the extension bracket longitudinally with respect to theframework to move the idler sprocket of the tray conveyor longitudinallyin order to take up or create slack within the tray conveyor.

In addition, the construction of the poultry thigh deboner 10 of thepresent invention advantageously enables the expansion of the trayconveyor 14 by the addition of extra carrier trays 22 to the trayconveyor and a longer extension bracket 90 to the framework. As aresult, the quantity of carrier trays 22 on the tray conveyor can beincreased so that more than one operator can be stationed at the loadingrun 24 to enable increased numbers of poultry thighs to be loaded ontothe poultry thigh deboner. As a result, the number of parts beingprocessed through the poultry thigh deboner can be significantlyincreased and the speed of revolution of the carrier assembly about thecam drum accordingly increased to increase the production capacity ofthe poultry thigh deboner.

Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that whilethe present invention has been disclosed with reference to a preferredembodiment, various modifications, changes and additions can be madethereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A poultry processing apparatus for removing thebone from the thigh of a bird comprising:a stationary cam support;continuous cam track means extending about said cam support; a revolvingcarrier assembly surrounding said cam support and including a continuousseries of deboning modules spaced about said cam support and movablealong said cam track means; drive means for revolving said carrierassembly about said stationary cam support; each of said deboningmodules including a meat stripper means and a reciprocatable bone pusherengaging said continuous cam track means and movable toward and awayfrom said meat stripper means in response to revolving about said camtrack for engaging and pushing a thigh bone through said meat strippermeans; a continuous tray conveyor including a plurality of poultry thighcarrier trays arranged in spaced series for transporting poultry thighsin registration with said carrier modules; conveyor guide means forguiding each of said carrier trays along a substantially rectilinearloading path toward said revolving carrier assembly, about saidrevolving carrier assembly, and along a return path to the loading path;so that poultry thighs are loaded on said carrier trays as the carriertrays move along the loading path, the carrier trays move from theloading path and about the revolving carrier assembly and guide thethighs into registration with said deboning modules, the cam trackactuates the bone pushers to push the bones through the meat strippersas the carrier trays move with the revolving carrier to strip the meatfrom the bones of the thighs, and the carrier trays move away from therevolving carrier along the return path.
 2. The poultry processingapparatus of claim 1 and wherein:said stationary cam support comprises acylindrical cam drum having a longitudinal axis extending substantiallyhorizontally; said revolving carrier includes end plates positioned atopposite ends of said cam drum rotatable about the longitudinal axis ofsaid cam drum; said deboning modules each including at least one travelrod connected at its ends to said end plates, at least one cam followerblock movable along said travel rod in response to engagement with saidcam track and movement about said cam drum, said reciprocatable bonepusher being mounted to and movable with said cam follower block betweena position extending across a carrier tray and a position retracted fromacross a carrier tray; so that the bone pushers are out of the way ofthe tray conveyor as the tray conveyor moves into and out of engagementwith the revolving carrier assembly and are extended across the trayconveyor as the carrier trays move about the revolving carrier.
 3. Aprocess of removing bones from poultry thighs and similar edible boneand meat parts, comprising the steps of:moving a plurality of poultrythighs in series first along a loading path toward a deboning unit, andthen revolving the poultry thighs about said deboning unit, with eachthigh extending transverse to the direction of movement; as the poultrythighs revolve about the deboning unit urging the bone of each poultrythigh longitudinally through an aperture formed in a meat stripper diskassembly of said deboning unit; as each bone is urged through theaperture of a meat stripper disk assembly, retarding the movement of themeat with the stripper disk assembly to separate the meat from the bone;and urging the trailing end of the bone on through the aperture of themeat stripper disk assembly while retaining the meat at the meatstripper disk assembly to complete the removal of the meat from thebone.
 4. The process of claim 3 and herein the step of moving aplurality of poultry thighs in series along a processing path firstalong a loading path toward a revolving deboning unit and then revolvingthe poultry thighs about a deboning unit comprises placing each poultrythigh within a recess formed in one of a plurality of carrier trays, andmoving the carrier trays first along a rectilinear loading path and thenin an arcuate path about a deboning unit.